God sent out spies into the land of Canaan'. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus. From there, Christopher Andrew traces shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognise as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated modern activities of which he is the world's best-informed interpreter. What difference have security and intelligence operations made to course of history? This fascinating book provides the answers.